7 week delay on order - Question #139009109

[#1]

 I believe I have been patient having placed an order to upgrade to fibre extra on 21/11/2016. After this the BT wholesale availability checker changed to say that fibre would not be available until 10/1/2017 so my order did not progress. Various responses to my question were given, the usual stuck in supplier's system, needed manual escalation etc, but the more common one was "provision of Cablelink" I thought the GEA Cablelink is only required for LLU operators as it is fibre cable between Openreach equipment and the LLU ISP's Backhaul kit. Seems odd that BT need it or have forgotten to install their links in the exchange!

Prior to today (4th of January) the question was put on hold with the following comment

 ***INTERNAL***

Cablelink required - no estimated completion date, and advised that there are no timescales to be provided for the completion of this. Please review on 15-01-16.

That response is shocking - what sort of "suppliers" do you have that can get away with such blatant stalling tactics.

Back to today, the checker is now showing fibre is available, we know that may or may not be true but I responded to the question asking CSC to check if the order would now be accepted or re-submit it if the original order had been cancelled.

The response I have just received is extremely disappointing

Thank you for your patience. I'm sorry to advise that your order has become delayed, We will be in contact with our suppliers tomorrow regarding this and will contact you before the end of the day to advise you further.

Then the question has been put on hold again until 15/01/2017 for an update from BT - on a Sunday!

My patience is now running out, it now over 7 weeks since my order and I have already been billed for 2 months fibre broadband which I have not received. I realise that PlusNet is totally dependent on BT in it's various guises for provision of service but I feel they get away with unhelpful updates without any timescales which just cause more frustration.

Any help with fulfilling this order would be appreciated.

[#2]

Hi there,

I'll get this picked up and chased for you, that way I can offer you consistent ownership of the matter and make sure we're pushing back on our suppliers as regularly as possible.

I'll contact BTW now and get the ticket updated shortly, as much as I'd like to be able to get things moving or update you any more specifically before the 15th I can't promise that unfortunately. Keeping in mind that's a Sunday we're always advised to check for updates following the next "review date of the issue" that can be a Saturday in some cases.

Cheers for your feedback about the ticket updates, I'll pick through those and get some feedback passed on.

[#3]

I've just been in touch with our suppliers

They've clarified that 15/1/17 is actually an estimated completion date for the work being carried out rather than a review date. A review date would mean that the work is still open-ended with no estimated completion given.

This instead means the work is not open ended and should be resolved by that date.

I apologise if this has not been communicated clearly up to now, as the 15th is a Sunday we'll need to contact our suppliers again on the following Monday for an update on the progress of the work.

[#4]

Thanks for your response, I thought that since both the BT Wholesale and Openreach checkers now say that fibre is available it would be worth chasing it up. It would seem that the checkers are a bit ahead of themselves if the work has not yet been completed. Let's hope there's good news next Monday!

[#5]

No worries, I've set myself a reminder for Monday to follow things up.

[#6]

@adamwalker or any other PlusNet staff. I was expecting an update from BT today, is there anything to report?

[#7]

Hi, I actually updated your ticket a few minutes ago.

[#8]

Thanks again, not what I was hoping to hear. I didn't expect the order to be complete yet as an engineer visit to the cabinet will be required. I don't suppose we will ever know what is actually causing the delay and if FTTC is actually available yet as the checkers still say it is.

[#9]

@adamwalker  You stated in your reply on the ticket that you would review the order with your suppliers yesterday (17/01/17). I have not seen any response yet.

I have however seen several posts where orders have gone wrong for various reasons and it doesn't inspire much confidence in your ordering systems. I would like to check that you are fully aware that my order is for an upgrade to FTTC (Unlimited Fibre Extra) on my existing ADSL line. I ask this because some of the text messages I have received from CSC have the following content :- [Sms Message: There is an important matter regarding the order to install your phone line that requires your attention. ...] I assume these messages are some sort of generic response and not related to my actual order, I hope that is the case!

It's now over 8 weeks since my order and precisely no progress has been made as far as I can see, I hope you can get some positive news for me soon.

[#10]

Hi there, 

I'm not sure why you've been conveyed that message in particular and yes it does sound like a stock response has been used incorrectly. 

Apologies if it wasn't made clear but we have to wait for the day following a review date before we're able to chase for up such orders. 

I'll make sure we chase yours up within the next few hours. 

[#11]

@adamwalker Any update on this, it appears that escalating a problem means very little to BT Wholesale. Can you get any sensible information on what is causing the delay which is now 9 weeks. Thanks

[#12]

I've been given a much more informative update which I've just added to the open ticket for you.

[#13]

Hi @adamwalker its now 10 weeks since my order and have had no feedback from BT wholesale for a week. I made an enquiry on another forum and have received the following response from someone with access to BT information.

"The same L2S Headend in Hereford serves 3 cabinets (yours, one in Hereford and one in Pontrilas). I cannot tell you the reason, but it looks like there is an issue specifically with that headend as you cannot order FTTC on those cabinets (even though the BT Wholesale checker is showing availability)."

So why is there a requirement to replace all the cable links at the exchange when there is a problem with one Level 2 Switch, the normal definition of a Cable link is a connection between equipment inside the exchange but that doesn't appear to be what BT are talking about if they require roadworks to fix the problem.

I know all I can do is wait, probably for quite a long time, but it is frustrating when as you have said in other posts the vast majority of FTTC upgrades go through without a hitch!

[#14]

Hi there,

I'll certainly try pushing back based on that information.

As it might take some time to broach with them I may not be able to do that today but should be able to do so by the end of tomorrow at the latest.

I don't want to get your hopes up bit I'll certainly try my best.

[#15]

@adamwalker  The weeks go by and we seem to be no further forward with resolving this problem. Have you had any updates from your suppliers? Do BT Wholesale talk to BT Openreach because I'm not sure we are getting the full story, more like second hand information. Are you able to find out what the roadworks carried out yesterday (14/02/17) immediately outside Hereford exchange were for. The description was rather vague "access required to underground structure to restore service" which doesn't tell us much. It looks like BT's updates are getting pushed further into the future despite your attempts to speed things up.